In 2000, the space agency launched the IMAGE satellite before it went missing five years later.

It was sent into space to observe the Earth's magnetosphere, before scientists lost contact with the reported £93m project.

But now it has been found thanks to an amateur astronomer, Scott Tilley, reports Science Mag.

The surface of Mars: could these images prove LIFE exists on the Red Planet?

These images released by NASA show the surface of Mars. They have been pored over by boffins and truthseekers looking for telltale signs that water once flowed on the Red Planet, which would mean that alien life could once have flourish there

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NASA

Four geological layers to be examined by the mission, and higher reaches of Mount Sharp beyond the planned study area

NASA said in a statement: "The NASA team has been able to read some basic housekeeping data from the spacecraft, suggesting that at least the main control system is operational.

"Other systems have been updated several versions beyond what they were at the time, requiring significant reverse-engineering.

"Scientists and engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Maryland, will continue to try to analyse the data from the spacecraft to learn more about the state of the spacecraft.

"This process will take a week or two to complete as it requires attempting to adapt old software and databases of information to more modern systems."